A coalition of AIDS activists is calling on Merck & Co. Inc. to set a fair and reasonable price for their integrase inhibitorIsentress (raltegravir). The experimental drug was recently recommended for approval by an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is expected to be approved by mid-October.

The group of activists, known as the Fair Pricing Coalition, has asked other activists, AIDS organizations and concerned individuals to sign a letter that urges Merck not to set a high price for Isentress. In the letter, activists question the escalating prices that other companies have set for drugs that have been approved in recent years. They point out that the price of the first protease inhibitors were many thousands of dollars less than those approved more recently, despite the fact that the cost of bringing newer drugs to market and manufacturing them has likely decreased.

Though the activists concede that Merck has made a significant investment in AIDS research and must be able to make a profit on Isentress, they argue that government programs like ADAP will become even more overburdened should the company set too high a price.